


Blood Stained The Roses Red (And For That I Love You Even More)

by Writing_will_be_my_death



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Addiction, Archivist!Sasha, Burns, Canon Asexual Character, Desolation!Jon, Do Not Archive (The Magnus Archives), Enemies to Lovers, Gaslighting, Hate Kissing, M/M, Manipulation, Trans Character, Trans Male Character, Trans Martin Blackwood, Web!Martin, and him not kind, as is jon, but this is currently all in martin's pov, enemies to enemy lovers to lovers, guys im being serious martin is like. evil, happy end, i mean elias|jonah is too obviously, jon and martin are avatars and they are mean, jon and martin be like: find their humanity through love, like just completely toxic, more warnings in notes, possesive!jon, seriously
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 16:47:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29720217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writing_will_be_my_death/pseuds/Writing_will_be_my_death
Summary: Those who do not know him would believe that Martin Blackwood has never been in control of anything in his life, ever. This is a lie. Those who know what he is, would believe that he has always had complete control over everything in his life at all times. This is also a lie.Martin Blackwood has about just as much control over his life as any other person. Maybe a bit more, depending on the person. But he's observant, enough so that he'd make a good servant to the eye if he so wanted to. Still, it's where he decides to control things that matters.(Please check the notes and tags guys this one is fucked up imo)
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Sasha James & Tim Stoker
Comments: 39
Kudos: 39





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> yes i have 5 fics on the go. yes im making another one. shut up.
> 
> Also watch martin gaslight the entire istitute.

Those who do not know him would believe that Martin Blackwood has never been in control of anything in his life, ever. This is a lie. Those who know what he is, would believe that he has always had complete control over everything in his life at all times. This is also a lie.

Martin Blackwood has about just as much control over his life as any other person. Maybe a bit more, depending on the person. But he's observant, enough so that he'd make a good servant to the eye if he so wanted to. Still, it's where he decides to control things that matters.

That's all to say that Martin never expected to be working in the archives under Sasha James after Gertrude Robison was murdered. It's not an ideal position, he's a little close to being directly under Elias's eye, but there’s no plan Elias could have that involved Martin Blackwood being the direct assistant to the Archivist. Maybe if he'd only been touched by the Web he would lend himself to providing a Web mark to Sasha, but a full-on servant would never allow the mass ritual to proceed. Especially not one like Martin Blackwood. The Home has shown most servants of the Web how boring that place really is, total control with no room for human error and no unsuspecting victims, not really.

Besides, Elias would never let himself be toyed with like this. He's still trying to make Martin nervous about not having a master's, like he didn't just walk in here and convince Elias that the interview had already happened.

His observations on Elias are as follows: He’s a control freak, and scared to death of… well, death. He can be summoned to the archives, or almost anywhere, with cake. But most importantly, Martin has found where his real body lays. The day before Elias transferred him to the archives, in fact. Martin is aware of the ties that now technically bind him to the archives, but… well. He thinks they're rather frail.

Elias isn't the only one Martin has observed. His new boss, the Archivist Sasha James, and Martin's co-worker Timothy Stoker are also interesting people.

Sasha worked in artifact storage for three months before transferring to research, where she would spend the next two years, before her promotion to Archivist. She didn’t make any friends there, not really, as she was too focused on actually researching things, and trying to avoid… something. Something that probably is the same reason she left artifact storage, something Martin plans to look into. Still, she worked well alongside Tim and hopes he will keep up his work ethic here in the archives.

Timothy Stoker is much simpler, yet potentially more dangerous. He’s got trauma, no doubt, after being accused of murdering his brother, who was found dead in the Covent Garden Theatre, beneath the Royal Opera House. This is a known territory of the Stranger, so it's unlikely the real murderer will ever be found and with Tim's… anger management issues, he was an easy target. The police are still trying to find a way to pin it on him, no matter how many times he's proven innocent. 

It's not easy, manipulating two people at once while one of the eye's favorites watches you, but he's done enough prep work for a real plan to begin to emerge. Tim and Sasha are both falling for his, "sweet innocent boy with tea who's trying his best" act that if Elias ever did do anything to Martin, he wouldn't have to lift a finger for their protection. Especially after he was, "locked in his flat" by Jane Prentiss. 

To give credit where credit is due, Jane did attempt to actually trap Martin inside his flat, but he could've escaped and killed her.

Probably should've too. She's doing… something under the archives, trying to use the tunnels to her advantage, most likely for a ritual she doesn't know will fail. And now Martin has to freak out every time he sees a worm. 

At the very least, Tim and Sasha definitely don't think that Martin is any threat, at all. Even Elias has been having a laugh at him. Which is a bit humiliating, but it'll pay off. It's still too suspicious of him to kill Jane, no matter how discreet he is, so he's resigned himself to waiting until she kills herself through the ritual.

And it all would've gone fantastically if Martin hadn't needed a snack one day.

The man was smoking a cigarette in an alley outside the coffee shop Martin usually gets victims from. Clearly an addiction, and with burn marks like that, there's got to be some survivor's guilt that's easy enough to play off of. 

Martin leans against the wall, close enough to talk to the man, yet far enough that he's not intruding on the man's personal space. He searches his pockets for a cigarette and finds one easily enough.

"Uhm, do you mind if I use your lighter?" Martin asks the man.

He scowls at Martin but extends out his cigarette anyway. "Use mine to light it," he says, voice surprisingly posh, but somehow still quite smoky. "That's easier anyway."

Martin smiles shyly, and presses the end of his cigarette to the man's, waiting long enough for it to light.

"Funny, most people would spend more time staring at the scars," he says. “Asking questions and whatnot. Is stringing people along like that not your style?”

Martin takes an inhale of the cigarette. The burn that rushes through his lungs is something he's experienced very few times. He smiles anyway, not wanting this flame of a man to know how it pains him.

"Well, I figured you gloat about the glory days soon enough," Martin tells him, before letting his voice drop an octave as he gives the man a glare. "Though I'm sure you had absolutely no control over what happened."

Martin really hopes he never sees this man again.

“You’re right, I had absolutely no control at all, ” the man replies, taking a drag of his cigarette. “And it was beautiful.”

He smiles at Martin, and in that moment, he knows that this man has ruined every single one of Martin’s plans.

“Jonathan Sims,” The man, Jon, says.

“Martin Blackwood,” Martin replies.

Oh, how Martin hates the Desolation.

Still, the dance of a flame can be rather… mesmerizing. Almost addicting.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Martin made the decision to never visit that coffee shop again. If that Jonathan guy wanted to see him, he’d have to work for it. After all, there’s nothing Martin hates more than going out of his way to meet someone. Besides, he’ll save money on coffee this way.
> 
> He goes three days without hearing anything from him, and then it all goes to shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings! Martin gaslights Tim! This will be a recurring event.   
> Also, Jon kind of stalks Martin? Like, Martin knows it's happening so technically it's okay, but like Jon never actually got consent to follow Martin so yeah :)

Martin made the decision to never visit that coffee shop again. If that Jonathan guy wanted to see him, he’d have to work for it. After all, there’s nothing Martin hates more than going out of his way to meet someone. Besides, he’ll save money on coffee this way.

He goes three days without hearing anything from him, and then it all goes to shit.

“Man, I met the weirdest guy at this coffee shop today,” Tim says as he walks into the archival assistant’s office. He’s later than usual.

“Weird how?” Martin asks innocently.

“He like… ok so, I went to a new coffee shop because I wanted to, yknow, try something new? Anyway, I see this worm, and I go to kill it because that’s what you do, but then this guy comes up, absolutely covered in burn scars, and he just like, puts his finger on it? And then the worm goes up in flames! And he gave me this,” Tim takes out a lighter, adorned with a web design. Odd choice for a servant of the desolation. “And tells me it’ll do the same to any worms I find elsewhere. Also, he told me to say hi to you? God, it was so fucking weird. He just came out of nowhere and had this… Insane look on his face. Fucking terrifying, honestly.”

Goddamnit. It’s Jon.

“Woah, what’s with the face?” Tim asks, shocked.

Shit. Martin must’ve scowled. He gives Tim a quick, uneasy smile. “Just uh, a guy who likes to bother me sometimes.”

“Oh ho ho! Say the word Marto and I will beat the shit out of this guy.”

Martin smiles again, genuine this time. “Thanks, but uh, it’s not that bad?” It’s good to know that he has that power over Tim.

“Seriously, anyone who can make you of all people make you of all people look that mad deserves to like, die? I mean honestly Martin,” Tim continues to put Whatever he’s done to you, you don’t deserve it, Martin.”

Martin shakes his head. “He’s… not worth it.”

“Alright, but if you ever change your mind...” Tim says with a smirke.

“...I will come to you.Thanks, Tim.” Thanks for being so goddamn gullible. 

It's then that Sasha comes in, handing files out and demanding research be done by impossible times. Not to mention how she rants about how Elias still refuses to put in CO2. Martin knows that he plans to have it installed in two weeks, but perhaps if Martin could use Jonathan to burn down the archives first…

No. Jon is an uncontrollable force of destruction. He is one of the few things that Martin cannot control, no matter how hard he tries.

“D’you think I should give a statement?” Tim asks after. “About that dude I met, what was his name?”

“You want to give her another statement to obsess over? I mean, if you want to, sure, but you know how she is with all these statements, and with all the worms that are here because of me-”

“Hey, no, the worms aren’t your fault,” Tim reassures Martin.

Not that the reassurance is actually needed. Martin isn’t guilty about the worms, though he certainly isn’t happy that they’re there. 

“But yeah, you're probably right. Sasha does have way too much on her plate right now.”

“Yeah, well, we should probably get back to work. We can talk more about Sasha’s wellbeing at spoons on friday.”

“Oh yeah, I’ll have to check my calendar-”

“You said on monday you’d be free?” Martin lies. Honestly, he doesn’t even plan on actually going to spoons, ever. It’s just fun to mess with Tim like that.

“Did I? Shit, I must’ve forgotten. I’m so sorry, Martin-”

“It-it’s fine, Tim, I didn’t y’know, expect you to remember-” Martin feigns self depreciation.

“No, hey, If I’ve got anything planned, I’ll cancel it to come to spoons with you and... Talk about Sasha’s deep dive into overworking herself.”

Martin lets out a soft chuckle.

“Thanks, Tim.”

Martin Spends the rest of the day only half-working. He knows that both Sasha and Tim know that his parapsychology is a fake, so they don't expect any good work from him in the first place. Plus, they also think he’s been severely traumatized by Jane Prentiss, so they really, really don’t expect Martin to be doing any good work.

Still, he leaves after Tim does (but before Sasha does, because she really is overworking herself) and to his surprise, Jonathan is waiting outside the institute with a cigarette.

“Care for a smoke, Blackwood?” He says. “Light it up with that lighter I gave your friend, maybe?”

Martin ignores him. It’s too close to the institute to do anything of this calibre, he can’t risk Elias seeing what he can do.

“Hey, Blackwood!” Jon calls, as Martin walks away.

Martin shoots back a frightened look. He doesn’t mean a bit of it and Jon surely knows that. Surely Jon knows what that look really means.

“C’mon, don’t leave so soon,” Jonathan continues as he follows Martin. Either he understands what Martin meant, or he’s very, very stupid.

Two blocks later, Jonathan shoves Martin into an alley. Martin doesn’t let him keep the upper hand, and pulls him up by the collar.

“Following a spider into his web?” Martin teases. “Not a very wise move, Jonathan.”

Jon takes a gasp of air, “Just wanted to know if you wanted a smoke,” he wheezes.

“Haven’t got any cigarettes on me, I’m afraid,” Martin lies, “And I’m afraid Tim still has your lighter.”

Jon attempts to scoff at him. It doesn’t quite have the same effect when he’s basically gasping for breath as Martin holds him up by the collar. “My lighter? It was a gift for you in that disgusting pit. All of you, for the worms?”

“Well, I don’t appreciate you tarnishing my symbol like that.”

“And yet you still smoke,” Jon taunts, holding out his cigarette to Martin.

Martin rolls his eyes, and takes the cigarette from Jon with his free hand. He puts the cigarette in his mouth and takes a long inhale, letting the awful burn go all the way down into his lungs. He lets the exhale of smoke cover Jon’s face. Frustratingly, he does not cough, grinning instead. 

Martin takes the cigarette, and puts the burning end into Jon’s mouth. Martin knows it won’t go out, and holds Jonathan like that for a good minute before letting him exhale.

“Afraid of not having complete control of me, are you?” Jon asks as Martin takes a quick drag of the cigarette.

Martin responds by throwing Jon to the side, directly into a pile of garbage. It’s unplanned for, but he’ll take the credit.

“Stay away from the archives,” Martin threatens.

“They belong to the Archivist, they’ve got no room for your silly little webs,” Jon snaps back.

Martin only takes another drag of the cigarette, and leaves. Jonathan doesn’t follow him this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyway hot Martin rights amirite


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He pushes her to the ground, breaking the grasp of her assailant, and thankful that the street is completely empty. The girl whimpers and cries on the ground, completely impossible to control in any meaningful way. When Martin turns to face the assailant, he's only mildly surprised to see who it is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS:  
> More gaslighting tim. and lying to tim. Manipulation to a stranger and uhhh murder of said stranger via fire. Jon attempts to burn martin, but it doesnt leave a mark. Also jon is possesive and martin's jealousy is kind of showing

The next time Martin comes into contact with Jonathan, he's trying to pull a bit of trauma from some random girl while Tim waits for him at a weatherspoons that Martin isn't planning on actually going to.

"Thanks for letting me use your phone," Martin mumbles to the girl while he looks up things that will definitely put her on a watch list and sends several of her friends and family some… concerning messages.

"It's no problem! I know how hard it is to find where you're going in a city like this when your phone's dead."

Not to mention the part of the city they're in… run down, empty stores everywhere, and god knows what kind of people ready to do who knows what to you. People like Martin.

Her smile is soft and sweet. He hopes she never smiles like that ever again. 

"Y-yeah, thanks, really. My hotel is… a bit far? But! Uh, I'll be fine, here," he stammers out, handing the girl his phone.

"Oh, I'll walk you there, don't want you getting lo-aaAAA-" She screams as Martin sees a dark and burnt hand clutch the back of her neck.

He pushes her to the ground, breaking the grasp of her assailant, and thankful that the street is completely empty. The girl whimpers and cries on the ground, completely impossible to control in any meaningful way. When Martin turns to face the assailant, he's only mildly surprised to see who it is.

"That was my snack, Jonathan," Martin hisses.

"I didn't like how close she was to you," Jon quips back.

"I thought I was the controlling one," Martin taunts.

Jon lets out a chuckle. "I wouldn't say I'm controlling, rather… possessive?" 

"I'd prefer if you'd take me out to dinner before you claim me," Martin says as Jon presses the lit end of his cigarette against the girl's skin, letting it burn away. "Some of us have standards."

"I thought that's what this was, Missulena," Jon says with a smirke. "You can't tell me that you got nothing out of that." 

"I didn't get much… but someone's been doing research on spiders, I see."

"Tried to find the one that's been stuck in my head, but clearly that one's unique, so I looked for one that's just as disgusting with a name to match."

Martin smiles.

"I'm disgusting, am I?"

Jon leans against the brick wall, his cigarette dangerously close to falling out of his mouth, and his hands resting atop his head.

"Down right revolting."

Martin slams his hands against where Jon’s arms cross over, pinning him to the wall. He presses the front of his body against Jon’s, ensuring there’s no way he can escape. He takes the cigarette out of Jon’s mouth and puts it in his own, right as his phone buzzes with a text. 

“Stop fucking teasing me,” Jon spits.

Martin smirks as he takes out his phone.

Tim: im at the spoons by the institute where r u

Martin: ??? why would i be @ spoons??

Tim: ? u said that on monday we agreed to go

Martin: why would i do that

Martin: spoons has too many ppl and i have plans with my boyf today

Tim: huh

Tim: weird

Tim: must be getting memry problems from working 2 much 2 help sash

Martin: lol yea

Martin: any gtg

Martin c u @ work on mon

Tim: c u

Tim: have fun with ur boyf

“Who was that?” Jon growls.

“My real meal for tonight, not the appetizer you ruined,” Martin hisses back.

Jon smirks.

“So… Does this count as dinner for two?”

Martin exhales smoke onto Jon’s face.

“You didn’t plan it,” Martin teases, “And dates have to be intentional.”

“Then I suppose we’re at an impassé, since I haven’t planned a goddamn thing in my life and I’m not about to start now.”

“Well, I suppose I could… take charge,” Martin croons. “Though, you’ll have to promise not to burn my webs.”

“I might need a bit of incentive.”

Martin huffs a small laugh, and takes a huff of the cigarette. 

“You’ve already said you can’t stop thinking about me. I think that’s the incentive you need.”

Martin jumps back and barely suppresses a scream as every part of him that’s touching Jon feels like it's burning. He tosses the cigarette away, letting it roll to the burnt husk of the woman.

“Fuck you,” Jon spits.

He grabs the back of Martin’s head, yanks him down, and kisses him, shoving his tongue into Martin’s mouth.

Martin hasn’t had much experience with kissing, especially not ones with tongue. He has no control whatsoever right now. It’s absolutely terrifying, exhilarating, and incredibly addicting. He never wants Jonathan to stop kissing him.

Martin pushes Jon off of him.

“Fine, be that way, Missulena,” Jon barks, “I’m supposed to be at Melanie’s anyway.”

“Who the fuck is Melanie?” Martin shouts as Jon walks away.

“A… friend, of sorts.”

And with that, Martin watches Jon leave.

He can’t believe he thought what he had with Jon was special. Playing along with Martin’s webs even though he could easily destroy them, sharing his cigarette with Martin, calling him Missulena.

Martin is embarrassed he fell for it.

He goes home in a sour mood. It carries through the weekend, having him buy sweets he wouldn’t normally buy to console himself. Four pints of cookie dough ice cream should carry him enough so no one suspects anything on Monday.

It’s not enough.

“Woah, Martin, are you okay?” Tim asks when he comes into the assistants office on monday.

“Yeah… I’m, I’m fine.”

“No offense dude, buy you really don’t look it,” Tim continues, sitting on Martin’s desk.

“I…” Might as well play into it. “I had a fight with my boyfriend. I think… he might be cheating on me.”

“Oh shit,” Tim says. “What’s his address, what’s his name, say the word and I will-”

“-Beat the shit out of him?” Martin finishes for him. “Yeah, thanks, but no. I technically don’t have any real proof. Just… some evidence he might be.”

“I could... Stalk him?” Tim suggests.

“Tim! No!” Martin shrieks. It’s completely genuine, who knows what Tim might find out about Jon. He’s not exactly subtle.

Not that Jon is actually his boyfriend.

“Hey, I’m just saying, if you’ve got reason to suspect he’s cheating on you, I will put myself at risk for you,” Tim says. “No one deserves to be cheated on, especially not you, you angel of a man.”

“Thanks, but seriously don’t. If he finds out I asked you to stalk him and he’s not cheating on me, I can’t imagine he’ll stay with me,” Martin replies. “Also, stalking people is a really shitty thing to do? Don’t stalk people, Tim.”

“Normally I wouldn’t,” Tim starts. “But for you I would.”

Martin shakes his head, but still smiles.

“Thanks, but no.”

Thanks for being so goddamn gullible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i would rly appriciate comments on this. i love writing this and i really hope ppl are enjoying readin this as much as i enjoy writing this :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There’s a part of Martin that never wants to see Jonathan again. Another part of him wants to beg and grovel for Jonathan to leave whoever Melanie is and never talk to her again. Most of him wants to tie Jon up and him for himself, it’s a shame that Jon could burn any ties that Martin tried to make. He does his best to avoid Jon for the next two weeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Violence and attempted murder?? Also uhh a part could be read as physical abuse but like. they could and would kill the other one if it really bothered them. Also burning (via a cigarette) and biting.
> 
> Also this spent most of its time half finished in my google doc files ghjhgfjkgf

There’s a part of Martin that never wants to see Jonathan again. Another part of him wants to beg and grovel for Jonathan to leave whoever Melanie is and never talk to her again. Most of him wants to tie Jon up and him for himself, it’s a shame that Jon could burn any ties that Martin tried to make. He does his best to avoid Jon for the next two weeks. 

When he gets called up by Rosie to bring a woman with bright, unnaturally red hair down to the archives to give a statement, he’s not expecting the conversation to have any significance.

“I’m Martin, by the way. Martin Blackwood,” He says, holding out a hand for her to shake.

“Oh, so you’re Jon’s ‘Missu-whatever’,” She retorts. “He’s been whining about you for like, the past two weeks. Stop fucking avoiding him, or he might ask Daisy to get you.”

“I-I’m sorry?”

“I’m Melanie. I think Jon tried to use me to make you jealous, but forgot that you didn’t know that Jon and I genuinely hate each other,” She drones, “I would sell him to satan for one corn chip. It’s honestly a shame that killing him is so difficult.”

“I, uh, have no idea what you’re talking about,” Martin lies.

“Yeah yeah, whatever, can’t get caught lying with all these fragile little lies you’ve built-”

“L-listen, we’re here at Sasha’s office, so if you could stop trying to- to do whatever it is you’re doing,” Martin stammers.

Melanie rolls her eyes and goes into Sasha’s office. Martin can barely contain the smile on his face.

“Who was that?” Tim says from the doorway to the assistant’s office. “Sounds like you two had a bit of an intense conversation.” 

“Uh, Melanie. She’s the one I thought J- my boyfriend was cheating me with, but turns out he’s not,” Martin replies, letting a small smile form on his face. “Can I get into the office now?”

“Heh, yeah, sure,” Tim continues, going to step out of the doorway,

Until there’s a scream from Sasha’s office.

Tim and Martin rush in, to see Sasha bleeding from a shoulder and Melanie standing over her with a knife.

“Jesus fuck!” Tim shouts.

“TIm! Martin! Get out of here, she’s fucking insane!” Sasha screams.

Melanie’s head whips to turn to face Tim and Martin. In her eyes is lust for slaughtering. No wonder Jon doesn’t like her, she can’t play games like Martin can. Martin makes a mental note to berate Jon for even thinking about hanging out with Melanie instead of Martin.

“Martin, look out!” Tim yelps as he pushes Martin to the ground and Melanie stabs Tim in the shoulder.

"I should've killed you earlier," Melanie snarls at Martin. "You're the one I was sent here to kill, afterall."

"Should've dealt with this earlier," Sasha says as she hits Melanie on the head with… a tape recorder.

"Jesus," Tim says with a groan as he tries to sit up. "Are you okay, Martin?"

Why is Tim asking after Martin? He wasn't even stabbed.

"Y-yeah, I'm okay. Thanks, by the way," Martin stammers out. "Are, uh, you two okay?"

"Aside from the stab wound? Yeah, I'm doing lovely," Sasha replies sarcastically.

Martin fakes a wince at her words.

"Hey, Sasha, come on. He’s dealt with worms for so long, and now this woman says that she's here to kill him."

Martin doesn’t miss the way Sasha rolls her eyes.

"Fine, fine!" She continues, "You two go home early, I'll… get Elias to deal with this."

"Thanks, Sasha," Martin mumbles as he stands up.

Martin lets Tim use him for support to stand up, but he doesn’t let go of Martin's waist. Martin allows him to keep his arm there, even leaning slightly against Tim.

Tim's hand rubs small circles down to Martin’s hip, pushing his shirt slightly up and softly squeezing Martin’s bare skin. Martin smiles. He wasn't expecting to have this opportunity, but he'll take it.

"You probably shouldn't be alone tonight," Tim whispers into Martin’s ear.

Martin shrugs. "I'll, um, probably head over to my boyfriend's place."

"Oh!" Tim yelps, jumping away from Martin. "Right, yeah, you, uh, go your man!"

Martin laughs softly as Tim awkwardly shoots him finger guns and stumbles out the front of the institute. Oh, how Martin is going to enjoy this. Jon does get rather… hot, when he's possessive. Pun intended, obviously.

Martin rushes to the coffee shop where he first found Jon. Unfortunately here's only dumb teens in the alley and hipsters inside the shop.

He continues to the street where Jon killed Martin’s snack. Her body has long since been removed, and in the daylight there are more people here. Plenty of them are scarred or burned, but none of them are Jonathan.

He resigns himself to picking up some cigarettes from Tesco, if only for a cheap imitation of what Jonathan could do to him. He grabs three packs and looks at the lighters. He has one at his flat, but there’s one lighter he actually wants. Shame it’s still with Tim.

He grabs a black lighter.

There’s not much of a lineup, but a few people do send him odd looks. He doesn’t look like a smoker, with his still-acne-covered face and wearing a flower-patterned jumper. These people know he’s not what he looks like, they know he could do whatever he wanted to them-

“Are you going to put down your items?” A familiar voice asks.

Martin looks up at the cashier.

“Jonathan?”

“I’m at work, Missulena,” Jon smiles, “But I won’t be in three hours. Not that I expect you to do anything with that information, obviously.”

Martin puts down the cigarettes and lighter on the counter. “We'll see.” 

He waits in an alley across the road from. Of course he does, what else would he do?

Jonathan doesn’t come out for nearly five hours, the bastard. Martin doesn’t talk to him immediately, lurking in the shadows instead. Let Jon think he’s been forgotten.

He watches Jon look around, scowling, and take out a cigarette of his own, lighting it on his fingers. Jon kicks the ground and walks off. When he’s almost out of sight, Martin comes out of the alley, following Jon. It’s not easy for him to blend in with few people, but Martin’s always been good at looking unassuming.

It’s easy for Martin to follow Jon. He’s clearly not thinking anyone would follow him.

Or maybe he knows Martin is following him? Only one way to find out.

When Martin finally sees that they’re on an empty street, he rushes to catch up to Jon, wraps one arm around his middle and lets his hand squeeze Jon’s side. His other hand tears out Jon’s cigarette and covers his mouth.

“Burn me, and I’ll kill you,” Martin whispers directly into Jon’s ear.

Martin ghosts his mouth from Jon’s ear, down to his neck, and bites down. Jon’s yelp is muffled by Martin’s hand. He unlatches from Jon’s neck, licking at the wound instead, trailing his tongue back up to Jon’s ear.

“I didn’t appreciate Melanie coming and stabbing my coworker and my immediate boss,” Martin continues. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

Jon can only grunt into Martin’s hand.

“Was she meant to be a peace offering, so I’d let you- Fuck!” Martin yelps as Jon bites on his hand, releasing Jon. “What the fuck!”

“I didn’t burn you,” Jon replies. “And yes, Melanie was meant to be a meal for you, if you could figure out what to do with her. Not surprised it didn’t work out, but she’s the only one I could get to actually go near you.”

“Is that so?” Martin hisses.

“Yes, she’ll take any excuse to murder, obviosly,” Jon drones. “So do I get to claim you now? After what you did to my neck?”

Martin rolls his eyes. “Sure. Fine.”

Jon takes out a cigarette again, lighting it on his finger as usual.

“I hope you’re not planning on burning me with that.”

Jon smiles, putting a hand on Martin’s cheek. “Oh, but Missulena, you said I could claim you.”

And places the burnt end of the cigarette on Martin's jaw, letting the fire twist and tear at his skin. Martin just barely contains a scream, sighing with relief when Jon removes it.

He does scream when Jon puts the cigarette back on a fresh patch of Martin’s skin.

And he does it again. And again. And again, and again and again and again.

Martin’s crying by the time all eight marks are on his skin, along his jaw and neck.

“Eight is the Spider’s number, isn’t it?” Jon asks, before kissing the burnt and bleeding skin.

“I should kill you,” Martin hisses.

“Honestly, I expected you to,” Jon admits.

When he pulls Martin down and kisses him on the lips, it’s unnaturally soft and sweet. Martin almost wants to shove him off. Almost.

“If you ghost me again, I won’t hesitate to ruin your entire life,” He whispers onto Martin’s lips.

When Jon walks away this time, Martin doesn’t follow him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my dudes... my gals.... my esteemed readers.... my monster fuckers..... someone made fANART??????!!?!? And im crying about it hkjfdgjfkghd im love it so much. 
> 
> https://forgetfulmachineart.tumblr.com/post/644943823979659264/heyo-ohnoimdeathing-basically-im-a-big-simp-over
> 
> Also no i do not know how to embed links. I should probably learn.

**Author's Note:**

> thoughts yall??


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